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| Progressive Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar |
Strangely enough progressivism comes from a good place albeit a very naïve one. Progressives worship the ideal of social justice. The goal of which is the equity of all mankind - fighting inequity wherever it is found. They will fight for policies that equalize outcomes for all people regardless of any relevant external factors. They will also fight inequity in any political system where they see a ruling class oppressing a minority underclass, This is how progressives see Israel. How they have always seen Israel ever since they stopped being an underclass among their belligerent neighbors in 1967 and became regional superpower
That made Israel a pariah to progressives that deserved the same fate that Apartheid South Africa got. They see no difference between Apartheid South Africa and Israel. To the progressive it is just a matter of degree. The more progressive one is, the more they will seek the demise of the oppressor Jewish state.
To that end many progressive will legitimize the Hamas brutal October 7th attack a desperate act of resistance against 76 years of a brutal occupation by group of colonizing European Jews. All part of the continued struggle for political, religious, and land right of their people.
I think is is fair to say that it progressive politics is that is driving all the anti Israel protests. That is certainly true in academia. It is a pretty easy to convince an idealistic young student to see Israel as an oppressor nation that has abused its indigenous underclass for 76 years - culminating with what they perceive as an Israeli genocide of Palestinians. Those optics are hard to refute - looked at in the here and now with a progressive eye.
So they protest such a country in earnest believing their view is the socially justified view. Anyone supporting Israel is equally guilty. And since they know that most Jews support Israel we are in essence supporting Apartheid - caring only for our own and caring not a whit for Palestinians. Translation: Jews are not much better than Nazis.
The more extreme progressives like Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar will argue that the Palestinian underclass must be freed from 76 years of Israeli oppression.
Make no mistake about that. Protestors on college campuses are no longer asking for a cease fire. They are demanding that their schools do everything they can to assure the demise of the Jewish state. Starting with divesting from any company doing business with Israel. They want Apartheid Israel destroyed and Palestine to replace it. This was true long before the war with Hamas and has been true since the founding of the state.
It is also no coincidence that the home of the Progressive Caucus is the Democratic party. It is also no coincidence that members of the Democratic party are the ones most sympathetic to the protestors.
Some would argue that Democrats are not anti Israel. That they are just concerned about the massive number of innocent Palestinian casualties at the hands of the IDF?
Sorry. They cant be that stupid. The accusation that Israel is indiscriminately killing Palestinians is beyond absurd. The Democrats that keep saying this ought to know better. They should know what their Republican counterparts (and many of their fellow Democrats) clearly know and have been saying every time Israel is accused of that. As Jonathan Rosenblum noted:
(Given) the steps that Israel takes to minimize civilian casualties, and its extraordinary success in doing so… (to) quote John Spencer, chairman of urban warfare studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute, once again: “By my analysis, Israel has implemented more precautions to prevent civilian harm than any military in history — above and beyond what international law requires and more than the US did in its war in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Spencer went on to suggest that instead of “excoriating the IDF for not doing enough to protect civilians,” the US and the international community “should be studying how they can apply the IDF’s tactics for protecting civilians.” He opined, however, that the US and its allies would be reluctant to employ those techniques because of the higher casualties among their own troops that would result, when fighting “an urban terrorist group like Hamas.”
Sure. That the deaths of innocent civilians during the course of a war is tragic. Does it not matter to them that Israel is battling Hamas, a group recognized by the entire civilized world as a terrorist organization? Does it not matter that Hamas precipitated this war by committing the greatest atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust? Does it not matter to them that Hamas uses their own innocent civilians as human shields? Which has the dual purpose of either protecting them, or getting sympathy for their cause via the oitics of the devastation their people suffer seen by the world being done by the IDF?
Do they disagree with the chairman of urban warfare studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute about how careful Israel is to avoid civilian casualties? If they truly belive Israel has the right - and even the duty to destroy Hamas, how are they supposed to do it?
Back to the progressive issue. What percentage of the country is progressive? I don’t think it is an ‘either/or’ question. It is a continuum whereby the more to the left one goes the more you will strive for equity among all socioeconomic groups regardless of any external factors that might have legitimate relevance to the actual economic social, or political circumstances of a given situation.
Problem is the media and entertainment industry tends to be very progressive. Their influence is enormous. In the same way progressivism pervades Academia so too do media and entertainment elites dominate the general culture. we therefore have an insidious subliminal influence that on the surface seems to be quite just. But in fact ignores factors that make it unjust.
I believe that Americans who adhere to the values of the bible are able to resist those subliminal progressive messages. This is true about Christians and Jews. The more fundamental one’ s belief in biblical values is, the more one will consider the religious and historical context of the war with Hamas. And the more they will support Israel and its conduct in the war.
